Ecommerce in Spain is quite outward-bound

The ecommerce industry in Spain achieved a total value of 2.8 billion Euros during the first quarter of this year. It’s remarkable that 43.2 per cent of transactions are cross-border online purchases and only 40 per cent of the total volume relates to purchases from Spanish local sites.

The remaining 16.4 per cent of online transactions in Spain are made by foreign consumers ordering online at Spanish shops, as we’ve read in a report the Spanish Telecommunications Market Commission published last week. Altogether, these 2.8 billion Euros is a rise of 15.1 per cent compared to the first quarter a year ago.

The number of transactions in the first quarter of this year has also increased, as there now have been 43.5 million transactions this period, a rise of 18.6% compared to the same period in 2012. When we look at the transactions in Spanish ecommerce, you could divide them in three geographical categories, as shown in the graph below.

The volume of ecommerce transactions which were originated in Spain and directed outwards was 1.22 billion Euros, a rise of 12.6% year to year. The European Union is the preferred destination for purchases abroad, as it is since 2002. The United States was the second destination for Spanish consumers with a turnover of 59 million Euros (4.9% of the total).